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Tuesday, 5 April 2016

#85 - Wildlife Sydney Zoo

One thing Sydney is not short of, is animal based attractions. In the land of kangaroos and koalas, snakes and spiders, there are no shortage of venues willing to accept some of your hard earned dosh to look at various animals in their glass cages.

You would think they would have at least put the giant crocodile inside a cage

The first thing to note about Wildlife Sydney Zoo, is that it is not the main zoo in Sydney. The main zoo in Sydney is located in Taronga, which is at the other side of the harbour from Wildlife Sydney Zoo. Wildlife Sydney Zoo, on the other hand, is located in Darling Harbour. The plus side of this location is that it is close by to lots of other interesting attractions, as well as loads of bars, cafes and restaurants if looking at all those animals makes you feel like eating some dead animals. Or dead vegetables. Whatever takes your fancy.

You can also generally buy tickets that include various other attractions along with Wildlife Sydney Zoo. There are different version of these, but I wouldn't worry too much about finding them. They will find you (they have kiosks located at most of the main tourist attractions), and even if they don't, the savings are rarely quite as good as they advertise. It's still probably worth doing though, just for convenience.

A kangaroo

In terms of the zoo itself, it had everything you would expect from an Australian zoo. It has the aforementioned kangaroos, koalas, snakes and spiders, along with various other fun critters, such as the Tasmanian devil. It is relatively compact for a zoo, so it is fairly easy to get around in a few hours without rushing. Despite its small size, it even manages to squeeze in its star attraction, a giant crocodile. Just to be clear, I just mean a large example of a normal crocodile when I say that - it's not some new species that you haven't heard of before.

That one is tiny compared to the one that almost ate Lisa

Overall, it's well worth a visit. The location and range of animals, large animals especially, doesn't quite match up to Taronga Zoo, but the sheer convenience scores it lots of extra points. If you only have time for one zoo, I would choose based on how much you like animals. If you tend to get bored after a couple of exhibits, I would stick to Wildlife Sydney Zoo - it's much smaller and you can get around a lot quicker. If you absolutely love animals and could spend all day looking at them, then I'd go for Taronga Zoo.

What do you think? Is Wildlife Sydney Zoo worth a trip as well as Taronga Zoo? Or instead? Or are zoos cruel, and you would prefer people avoided them altogether? All opinions welcome in the comments

About Me

I am originally from Glasgow, in Scotland, but currently live in Singapore with my wife. I have previously lived in Dublin and Sydney. I love to travel, drink beer and watch sport; where possible, all three at once.